Week 47

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Well, yesterday we had our last interviews with President Brough. He and Hermana Brough are leaving at the end of June. It will be sad to see them go. They've left such a legacy of obedience, diligence, and faith tin the mission. Before they came here, this mission was super inicuo (wicked, aka disobedient but they turned everything around. Now our mission is known in Guatemala for being super flechón (obedient) and for all the baptisms we have. The next mission president has big shoes to fill, but I'm confident he'll be great. It'll be interesting to see what changes he makes though. Before the interviews we got to watch the new movie "Ephraim's Rescue." It was the first time I'd seen a movie I hadn't seen before in almost a year (does that sentence make sense?), which was cool. It was actually really good, possibly even better than 17 Miracles (I've seen that movie so many times out here in the field). Both of those movies make me remember that we missionaries can't really complain about anything. We’re not really suffering that much.

When I had my interview with him, President Brough hinted that I might be here for a long time. The Elder I replaced was here for 9 months, and there was another Elder in this area who was here for a good 17 months (according to the members at least). Apparently he also became fluent in Catchikel. President Brough said that he does that because it takes so long to win the confidence of the members and it's only through the members that we can have any success here because the people are so closed. So, I've set myself the goal to learn all their names, despite being too poor at remembering names and faces. Suggestions would be welcome.

Hmm, what else. To tell you the truth, time is really flying by, far faster that it has at any other point on my mission. I'm not really sure what else happened this week. A lot of good stuff, some hard stuff too I'd imagine.

How about a cool scripture I found in my personal study a bit ago? Hmm, ok, this is a little awkward, I can't actually include the scripture in English because I only have my Spanish set so you'll have to look it up or my parents will have to add it in later. Doctrine and Covenants 109:73. 

That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;

Aside from this just being a super cool scripture because it says "terrible as an army with banners," it's also cool to be on the front lines of witnessing this happening. Last General Conference we got to watch part of the World Report while we ate lunch and it made me think.  Not only is the church true, it's also super cool." The videos they make now are about 32 times better that the ones they had 30 years ago (no offence). Still, for all the cool PR stuff that's going on, it won't mean anything if we don't open our mouths. We're so blessed to live in this time but that just gives us even great responsibilities.

Also, I've been pretty sick for quite a few weeks now and would really love you prayers

Finally, I've included a few pictures of our cook, Cata Per, so you guys can see how a typical Guatemalan woman dresses here. How cool is it that I get to teach these people ever day? As difficult as it is at times, I'm so grateful I got called here. It's all so beautiful. Anyway, here dress is corte and the top she's wearing is called güpil. It varies a lot depending on the city.

Week 46

Well, hardly any time today, but I'd say that getting to talk to you guys on Sunday more than makes up for that. I can't believe how much Elissa has grown. I hate to think about how much more she'll have changed by the time I get back. Adam and Jonathan also seem much older, but other than that, it was cool to see how much things are the same.

Big happening this week was that I had emergency changes for the first time. I'm still here, but my companion Elder Lopez, got taken by the assistants to his new area in the coast early Friday morning and Elder Mariscal got taken by the secretaries from that area to here. It was pretty crazy to have changes mid transfer like that, with less than 24 hours’ notice. One interesting thing is that actually just a few days before I had commented to Elder Martinez, one of my zone leaders, that I had been able to learn the area (know my way around, who the members are, etc.) much faster than I expected, faster than I had been able to learn any of my previous areas. I'm sure the Lord knew that my companion would be leaving just 3 weeks after I arrived here so He gave me increased capacity so I would be prepared to teach the area t my new companion.

Yesterday we went to Panajachel, which was super cool. It's a city right on the lake Atitlan. So incredibly beautiful. The lake is amazing and it was cool, foggy, and drizzly. We went for a hike in the jungle and I wouldn't have been surprised to see a dinosaur or two.

Well, time to go. I'm loving my mission more and more every day and growing so much (spiritually, socially, physically (I've definitely gained a little weight).

Week 43-45

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Wow, so, my missionary life has completely changed in just one week. Transfers were pretty crazy this change. Right now I'm writing to you all from... Patzicía, Sololá!!! (actually, I think it's closer to Chimaltenago, but it's part of the Zone Sololá). For those of you unfamiliar with Gmalan geography, let's just say that it went from the low, hot, humid coast in Escuintla, to way up to the cold mountains in the north. That is the first big change. The climate is completely different. Instead of spending all day sweating, I'm now bundled up in a sweater and my jacket that I thought I would never use. I feel like a big part of it is just that I adapted to the heat in my old area and so now I feel like I'm dying in the cold. Yes, it's cold at night, but logically I feel like I wouldn't have wanted to bundle up in all my ski clothing had this happened 6 months ago. 

The second big change is that I got called as district leader. I was really surprised and pretty overwhelmed. Being a district leader is a lot harder than I ever thought. It's hard to have so much responsibility resting on my shoulders. When President Brough called me in to interview me, he said that I would be going to a district that has been having trouble baptizing and that I needing to get them going again. He said that at no time could I doubt. At that point I was pretty sure I was going to Sololá, because that zone is notorious for being really hard. Sure enough, it makes me feel a little like being in the United States. Pretty much everyone rejects us flat out. More on that later though.

Anyway, I've got a total of 4 companionships in my district, district Zarahemla (more on that later as well). My companion, Elder Lopez from Honduras, and I, as well as one companionship of elders and two companionships of sisters. I don't really have any time at night because I have to call and talk to them as well as the zone leaders, which means I don't really get to eat dinner (we don't eat during the day), but I happy to make that sacrifice to serve the missionaries here. It's tough, but I'm counting on the fact that whom the Lord calls He qualifies. This calling has humbled me and has made me hold myself to an even higher standard.

Now, about my area.  It's so beautiful here. We often have fog and there are always giant clouds. It's mountainous and our area is full of ups and downs. The culture here is what I always pictured Guatemala to be like. There are tons of farms and gardens of corn, squash, broccoli, beets, carrots, etc. I love how the fields seem to be draped over the hills in an attractive patchwork pattern.  All the women here wear corte, the indigenous dresses that are made of beautiful, multicolored, heavy cloth. It's so cool. I really feel like I'm in another world. The education level here is much lower than in my other areas. Many people can't understand us because they don't speak Spanish very well. Most people speak Ke'kchi, which has lots of x's ch's, sh's, and throaty h's. Almost everyone here is Catholic, as were their parents, and grandparents, and great-grandparents, etc.

One really neat thing that happened this week was the Semana Santa, the week before Easter. We were walking around Sunday morning, looking for investigators to bring to church, when we saw that everyone was out making alfombras. What they do is create an intricate “carpet" of flowers for the catholic procession to walk over as they go to the cathedral. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. They used so many fresh, bright flowers and flower petals, as well as pine needles and brightly dyed, fine saw dust. There were so many colors and I was so sad that everything would be destroyed in just a few hours when the procession walked by. It's something that I will never forget though. As we walked by, admiring the beauty, a dog that always follows us named oso, started running over the alfombras. He's not or dog, but he always waits outside our house and follows us where ever we go. Everyone thought he was our dog and it was pretty embarrassing. I threw a lot of water on him to get him to go away, but I felt bad because he must be entrusted with some divine mission to protect the missionaries. Still, he causes problems and has to go.

Anyway, I'm out of time. I'll have to save a lot of what I wanted to write for next time. I like my area, like my companion, and like my district. It'll be hard here; I'm not nearly as comfortable as in Escuintla (never thought I'd say that), but I'm ready to do it.

Love, Elder Cannon

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Well, here we are again. This week has flown by, although I've been pretty sick and the people here haven't been too receptive. I guess I'll explain a little bit more about my area. It really is so different from where I've been before. Actually, first, we had a baptism! ¡Eso! Anyway, last week we baptized Carolina, a young woman who had been attending church for some time but wanted to wait to get baptized until her sister got back from her mission (her parents aren't members but she has a few siblings that are). However, that's always risky, so into the water she went. I really didn't do much, just showed up in the area and everything was ready, but it makes up for the three investigators that I left to be baptized the Sunday after I left in my old area. 

As I suspected, the cold here isn't actually as cold as it first felt. It does get pretty chilly at night, but I enjoy getting to walk around in my cool detective coat. It feels especially cool when the fog is really thick.

Anyway, in my area we have two wards (a big change from having two or three companionships in one ward, as has been the case in all my other areas). One of the reasons for that is because there is a colonia (neighborhood) called Zarahemla. As you might guess from the name, the colonia is made up almost entirely of Latter Day Saints. It's Utah level. It's a big change and since the people here are so closed and tracting is so difficult, we're really trying to work more through the members and hopefully that will give us some success.

I'm starting to feel much more comfortable in my new calling. It's a lot of responsibility, and the challenges seem pretty big, but I have faith that I’ll receive the help I need. The one bummer is that now not only do we not eat dinner during the day, but I also no longer have time at night, after planning and making the calls. Sacrifice equals blessings, so it's OK.

Being in this area has really taught me the importance of teaching with the Spirit. Right off the bat, most of the people we contact, either want to contend or hide. It's hard not to get frustrated in a lesson when someone just refuses to understand because they don't want to. I learned a powerful lesson once when we were teaching three older ladies who were honestly being a little ridiculous. As we were trying to get them to understand that they had to pray about what we taught, I asked the member who was accompanying us to bear his testimony. He is 16 years old and didn't know all the scriptures or teaching strategies that we did, but he very humble bore a simple testimony about the restoration of the Church, Joseph smith being a prophet, and pray. The contrast was rather remarkable. The spirit was so strong as it testified of his words. At the beginning of my mission, contending was a temptation for me. I would have loved to whip out my bible and read a dozen scriptures to prove my point. However, as I have developed more charity, I've lost a lot of that desire. Now I just want to help my investigators to feel the Spirit and feel their Heavenly Father's love. Still, actually carrying that out can be difficult at times. I'll keep working on that. Talk to you next week!

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Wow, time really flies by here. I can't believe that the change is already almost halfway over. We've been working hard this week, despite being rejected time after time. Honestly, it is pretty hard to be here in the mountains, but it's worth it because it's so incredibly beautiful and some general authority said that every time we're rejected our testimony is strengthened. Being in the jungle was cool (punny), but being in the mountains is just incredible.

We did have a miracle this week. One Sunday, after church, we had a lesson with two young adults, Aura and Olga. We'd had two lessons with Aura previously and she'd been really resistant to our message. We'd had one lesson with Olga and she was more positive. Both of them showed up at church this Sunday and in our lesson that day they both said that they had prayed and received and answer from God that what we taught them was true. We challenged them to baptism on the 18th and they said they'd pray again.

It goes to show how important it is to follow the Spirit. Yes, many people here are obviously not ready, but there are some who are prepared. We just have to be guided by the Spirit to find those people. Sometimes that's easier said than done though... I feel like it's relatively easy to recognize and follow promptings like "Knock on this door" or "share this scripture" (one thing that's really cool is when you do that and you end up learning from what you're saying at that moment), but promptings as in answers to specific prayers, like "should this person be baptized" can be much more difficult.

Speaking of which, I had my first baptismal interview this week. Those keys that president Brough received from President Eyring are a little bit heftier than the Teachers Quorum presidency keys that I have previously used.

Random thoughts:

-       I'm pretty sure that this is the safest area I'll have one my mission. Here in the mountains, they have a very Law of Moses style justice system. I'll just say that there are no jails in Patzicia. Need another hint? Think machetes and fire. Yeah. Not much crime happens here...

-       Good luck to all those AP test takers out there. Fun Stuff

-       This week our stake also celebrated the anniversary of the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood with giant fireworks (the shoot into the sky and explode in a bunch of colors) shot off from the church parking lot. It was pretty awesome. - Almost as awesome was when I realized that the torch symbol of the Young Women is actually a girls head. That kind of rocked my world.

A couple of shots of Patzicia, as well as what I think is the funniest picture I've taken on my mission. It probably won't mean much to you, but man, Mannequins modeling corte. Never thought I'd see it.

Week 42

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Well, who would have thought? It's time for changes again. I'm going to be leaving and Elder Huish will be receiving a nuevo missionary straight from the CCM. I've really come to love this area and am pretty sad to finally have to leave. When I first got here I was dying in the heat and humidity and thought that the sooner I could get back to the capital, the better. However, as I've done my best to serve diligently, the Lord has really blessed me. This last change especially has been good. I've learned a lot and had a lot of fun with Elder Huish but we haven't had as many baptisms as I was expecting. Nevertheless, we've done all we can and the area is well prepared for next change.

I'm leaving 3 people to be baptized this Sunday and quite a few more who will be baptized in the coming weeks. I'm sad that I won't be here, but the important part is that they start progressing towards eternal life. Despite the challenges we've had with investigators disappearing, having personal problems, not having the desire to follow the answer they've received, we were able to have very good church attendance. In the change (6 weeks), we had a total of 53 investigators attending church. I hope that those who might not have been completely ready to participate in the gospel at this moment in their lives will remember what we've taught them, the spirit they've felt at church and while fulfilling their commitments, and the love we had for them and that someday that seed will bring them back. In all, it was a successful change because we were exactly obedient, diligent, and we did the Lord's will, which was for us to have those three baptisms.

I've included a bunch of pictures of what we did yesterday for P day. We've been wanting to make pan (bread) forever. There are bakeries all over the place and the bread they make is all very standard (i.e. a piece of pan dulce is exactly same wherever you go in Guatemala). We eat lunch with Juan and Gladis. They’re super nice and I really love them. Gladis is a pilas recent convert and Juan has been a member for much longer. He suffered a stroke a few years ago and half of him is paralyzed. He is especially fond of us because we've talked and (mostly) listened to him as we've eaten lunch. It really means a lot to him to feel valued. Anyway, they used to make bread and they have an oven and so they invited us and one of their friends who also knows how to make bread over and it was awesome. Now we just need to spend a P day making tortillas. That'd be even more useful after the mission.

Finally, there's been a firefly invasion here. Maybe it's just firefly season or something, but it's so cool! At night, I can look out from out porch and the field is lit up with hundreds of bright fireflies. The effect they all have together is weird, kind of disco...

A picture of a mango the Alvizures family gave me. I used it to break my fast and it was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. So fresh and so perfectly ripe. That's a blessing of being in the coast.

The Garcia family and then a noche de hogar [family night] that we had yesterday.

Love, Elder Cannon

Week 41

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Wooo!  General Conference!  Those 6 months flew by. Sadly, for the first day, we were only able to listen to it in English, the video didn't work.  We even missed the talk by Elder Holland! Elder Holland of all people!  We also missed the talk by Elder Ochoa who is totally from Guatemala and is the area president.  Yep.  I've heard him speak on multiple occasions.  Anyway, the next day was better. We got the video feed working and we even got to watch the first session with President Brough, just to amp up the spiritual power in the room.

I felt like all the talks were incredible.  They made it really clear what families have to do to avoid the growing evil in the world: have daily scripture study, family prayer, family home evening.  I specifically loved the talk by Elder Utchdorf of gratitude, the talk by Elder Oaks on the Priesthood and Elder Bednar's talk, as well as many others.  Wow, what a great 5 sessions.  Now I'm rather distraught that once again we have to wait another 6 months.  Why can't these things be more often?  In all, I'm very grateful that we have living prophets and apostles to guide us in these days. That's such a great blessing.

Something weird is happening with my accent in Spanish. I've now had multiple people tell me I sound like a Brazilian. Not sure how that happened, but I'll take it I guess. Still got a ways to go though...

We had a rather frightening adventure this week.  We got a suspicious call from an unknown number who told us that her sister was in the hospital in our area (the caller was from the United States and who knows how she got our number) and that she wanted us to go and give her a priesthood blessing.  We took a member with us and, sure enough, the person really did exist.  After talking with the receptionist, we were allowed to enter.

It was unlike anything I'd seen before.  There were flickering lights dangling from the ceiling, flaking paint, and large rooms full of dirty beds with no dividers between patients.  We went to the gynecology section of the hospital (which made it even scarier) and found the woman.  When we began talking to her, I was incredibly glad we came.  She was pregnant and her baby died.  She was far from home and didn't have anyone to visit her.  I was grateful for the service we were able to perform by comforting her and giving her a blessing.  I was grateful to be used as an instrument to bless someone else.

Week 40

Tuesday, April 2, 2014

OK.  Well, yet again we’re having internet troubles.  Hopefully my parents are able to get the capitalization and punctuation of my letter cleaned up.  It’s a long story - and wow, that’s a pretty inappropriate song that they just started playing.  It’d be pretty easy to tune out, but it’s in English - so it’s more difficult. 

Moving on, since last I wrote… well, yep, I ended up getting pretty sick after eating in that comedor [restaurant].  I’d say it was just my head, but I was really sick.  Let’s just say I became very familiar with the bathroom of one of our investigators that was so terrible I don't think I could have imagined it before coming here to Guatemala.  Anyway, I’m feeling much better now.

We had three baptisms this week!  Two were Marco and Josue Alvizures, the sons of Aidee and Marco Tulio.  Apparently no records of them exist anywhere in the Church.  Being unable to recreate the baptismal records for various reasons, we had to baptize them again so they would be considered members.  The baptismal font was extra full this Sunday and after I baptized Josue, he swam back to the stairs.  As in, 100% swam, head under and doing breaststroke.  It was hilarious.  Their family is kind of like that - not super educated.  I really love them. 

Anyway, the third baptism was Catherine Garcia.  She’s super pilas.  Her dad is an excommunicated ex-missionary and her mom is inactive.  We started visiting the family a month ago and, man, since the first day, the dad decided that he’s coming back to church.  He’s got a super strong testimony and knows a ton.   (He even showed me some cool scriptures I hadn't seen before.)  He’s been coming with Catherine and his younger son to all the church activities and services.  For whatever reason, the mom has been the problem.  She’s been super resistant and getting her signature for the baptismal form was pretty hard.  She didn't even show up to the service - talk about totally lame. Anyway, Catherine is doing great and wow; she and her dad are really pilas. I really enjoyed that baptism.  The other kid in the picture is a baptism of the other elders. 

Yesterday we had our p-day and Elder Huish and I went and picked up the hammocks we had ordered a week before.  In a part of our area there’s a ton of people who make hammocks. It’s super cool and they only cost fifty quets aka six dollars.  Best purchase ever. I set it up last night using every bit of my engineering skills and it was rather revolutionary.

The first picture is of my companions hammock, as they were attaching the end parts. 

Mine is the same color as the hammocks in the background.

My two favorite trees in Guatemala the highly efficient, solar panel like tree and the giant ceiba.

A cool morning in Escuintla.

A picture taken shortly before my personal battle with Shelob [Lord of the Rings reference].  

My respect for Sam has greatly increased.

Week 38 and 39

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Well, another week has flown by. We had a great week from last Tuesday to Sunday. We had more progressing investigators than we were able to visit every other day (which I think is the optimum amount of time between appointments with pilas investigators). Our days were therefore always full of incredible lessons and we had a very achievable goal of having 16 investigators attending church. We were excited and full of faith that our goal of 8 baptisms this month would be almost easily achievable. However, on Sunday even the most firmly committed investigators were unable to attend, causing their baptismal dates to be bumped back to April 6th. 

This was a discouraging development to say the least. I think that God wants to try our faith though. I very much feel that our goal of 8 baptisms was made by the Spirit, therefore we can achieve it. I know we are doing all we can and are being obedient, therefore I know we will achieve it. Now, instead of being able to easily baptize 8 this month, it will require a miracle. I feel like this situation is similar to when the Lord lessened Gideon's army to be sure that everyone knew their victory was due to Him and not to their own strength. Our number of possible baptisms for this month has been greatly reduced, but I'm trying to keep from doubting so that we can be blessed with the miracle we need. It is scary to not know how we will achieve the goal, but, I assume that Nephi felt similarly when he was commanded to build the ship. I love what the Lord says to him in 1 Ne 17:13. Sorry, you'll have to go look that up. I've only got it in Spanish. 

"Y también seré vuestra luz en el desierto; y prepararé el camino delante de vosotros, si es que guardáis mis mandamientos.  Por lo tanto, al grado que guardéis mis mandamientos, seréis conducidos hacia la tierra prometida; y sabréis que yo soy el que os conduce." 

[And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.] 

Anyway, we're proceeding with faith despite the opposition.

Also, it seems like are area seems to be more full of slightly crazy people than usual, which is actually really fun. This week we had an encounter with a man who, on the first visit wanted to give us food so we could eat with him as he finished his dinner. We refused as delicately as possible as he wanted to buy us tamales (aka street food, which we're not allowed to eat). However, he flat out refused to accept any of our excuses, saying "how can you expect to be able to invite me to church if I can't even invite you to eat?!?" We managed to extricate ourselves from the situation by convincing him to buy us some bread instead. We also talked to an old guy who was sitting outside of his corrugated steel house and told us he "only believes in science" (yes, exactly like in Nacho Libre - Link) and then tried to stump me by asking me what the biggest tree in the world was. Despite having gone to Stewart State park at least 32 times, I'll admit that I was only able to come up with Redwoods, not Sequoia. That was embarrassing. Also, a woman who said she was dead for 7 days and one of our investigators who (with his wife) was supposed to be baptized this Sunday but who, on Wednesday, backed out because he didn't want to give up the little bar he had in his garage. In our last lesson he even got up when a drunk guy staggered over to give him a bottle of vodka. A great example of how true faith is more than just a testimony that the BOM is true.

Anyway, I'm doing great and hope that you all are as well.

Love, Elder Cannon

P.S. here's my random picture for the week. This is how we get water. We buy big bags of pure water for 5 Quets (62.5 cents) and then can use the small bags whenever we want. You just tear a corner off with your teeth and drink the water inside. When we're out of the house we can buy a small bag for .50 Quets whenever we feel thirsty.

P.P.S. The "I'll go where you want me to go" member missionary video that was shown during the worldwide conference on June 23, 2013 really is incredible. 

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Well, not a ton to say this week. Sunday was hard as not a single one of the people we were going to baptize on the 30th attended church, which is tough because they have to have at least three attendances before baptism. We're still working hard though, and having a good time. Speaking of having a good time, I've got a new favorite Gmalan dish, tocón. Mom, you have to look up a recipe and make it. My old favorite was pepián, a great tomato and chicken soup thing, tocón is similar, but made out of green vegetables, instead of red, it has green peppers, tomatoes, etc. It must be eaten with real Guatemalan tortillas though. Elder Huish and I are going to learn how to make tortillas before this change is over. Wow, I'm really hungry now.

In other news, my companion and I were struck with the dreaded "bu" this week. "Bu" is pretty much an integral part of serving a mission here in Guatemala. Let's just say that I came closer to throwing up during a lesson than I have ever done before and my companion was also pretty close to having some major problems in another way. We're feeling better though, and I'm fine with suffering if it means I get more blessings. Wohoo! Blessings!

Yesterday I was a little baggy; Elder Huish got permission to go to the BYU website to enable President Brough to renew his ecclesiastical endorsement. It's definitely easier to stay completely focused down here in Guatemala, but then there are always those little distractions that pop up. As he's only got one full change left, it's made me think about how much I love Guatemala. It really must be so hard to have to leave after coming to love every little detail here. I've come to love the people, the culture, the food, the language, the houses, the bakeries, the tiendas, the buses, even the metal doors that everyone has (I'll have to get a picture of one of those, they're kind of a big part of my life).

Ok, our internet went out so we went to eat as a district while we waited for it to come back. We went to the only place available, a super scary comedor (cafeteria) near here. That was one of the diciest eating situations I've ever experienced. However, we did eat with a really drunk guy who didn't want to leave us alone and we taught him how to say "fried chicken" in English. Anyway, I'll probably be super sick tomorrow. That food was definitely not clean... Oh well...

Talk to you all in a week... (if that food wasn't too dangerous)

Love, Elder Cannon